Welcome to Tortall Selective High School
by Katia22
Summary: Modern Kel/Dom set in a high-school. Kel moves from Yaman to Tortall and begins attending "Tortall Selective High School" as the first girl ever accepted into their sports program. Who else is there? All of your favourite Tortallan characters, including Neal, Dom and Lalasa! I used to be you.just.got.STORMed and this was "Why, Hello", but it's getting redone... Prepare yourselves!
1. Chapter 1

_Hi guys, so in case you didn't know, I'm . . If that means anything to you, don't shoot me :P. Pretty much, I used to write a lot on this site ("Why, Hello", "I Do?", "You Belong With Me", "Arranged", etc), then I quit for two years, and now I'm semi-back. As in, for the next couple of weeks I may be writing a bit- but not throughout the year- and at the end of this year/early next year I'm going to be re-doing all of my old Protector of the Small stories and making them (hopefully) better!  
_

_This is the equivalent of my old "Why, Hello". And I'm sorry it's not called "Why, Hello" but I decided that a fresh title was in order. It's going to be changed. It's going to be remodeled. It's going to be turned upside down and shaken around and..._

_Yeah ok, getting a bit carried away here ;) All you need to know is that it's a modern Protector of the Small Kel/Dom. Set in a high-school... well you'll see. Wouldn't want to spoil it all at once, would I!_

_Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to five amazing people that added me to their author alert! Already! So, here it is, to Alyss Mainwaring, kilysa, sokkr-rox, Reichuru and KsandraMallan! Cheers guys, and I hope you like it. Never fear if this chapter is a bit slow, because there's going to be more chapters! Wooo! _

**Chapter One: "Welcome to Tortall Selective High School"**

It was the brick wall, with its carefully chosen variety of browns and greys, and its shining, golden letters spelling out "TORTALL SELECTIVE HIGH SCHOOL", which first gave Kel an idea of what exactly- or more precisely, where- she had gotten into. She stared out the window of her mother's beaten red four-wheel-drive and suddenly understood the half-impressed, half-stunned looks on her local friends' faces when she'd casually mentioned that she'd be attending "Tortall High" that year. She hadn't known why they'd looked like that, but that simple brick wall explained a lot. It looked fancy. Very fancy. And quite possibly snobby.

"It looks… quite selective," Kel said hesitantly to her mother, attempting to find some positive words to describe her thoughts.

Ilane smiled across at her daughter, amusement twinkling in the sea-green eyes that Kel hadn't inherited. "I told you it was quite an impressive school. Now shall I drive you in or do you want to walk from here?"

Kel risked another glance across at that intimidating brick wall. Thick trees hid whatever was behind it, but she could see next to the gate the beginning of a long, winding gravel driveway. The summer sunlight, which had been trapped behind a cloud, was released, and chose just that moment to beam upon the wall. The golden letters glinted and glared in the new light, making Kel want to cover her eyes. Somewhere behind that wall and those trees was her new school, her new life. And she was not about to let that brick wall or those golden letters scare her away.

"Thanks, Mama, but I'll walk." Opening the door, she hopped out of the car, glancing self-consciously at her reflection in the windows. Kel had never been the sort of girl to spend long at the mirror, but today she felt oddly nervous. It was probably the move. Tortall was very different, very far from Yaman, and she probably still hadn't adjusted to the time difference. At least that's what she told herself. She grabbed her large sports bag out of the back of the car, and walked to her mother's window to kiss her on the cheek. Ilane knew better than to offer to walk her daughter in; Kel had always liked to be independent and at sixteen, considered herself capable enough to do most things.

"I'll see you next weekend," Ilane said in her melodic voice. "Have a good week, alright, dear?"

Kel nodded and let herself have one last hug. "See you then, Mama."

* * *

Kel was almost beginning to regret walking after the fourth bend in the road. She still couldn't see the school, and it had been several hundred metres. The long walk wasn't exactly helping her nerves, as much as she hated to admit it, and she forced herself to slip into the breathing exercises that she'd learnt in Yaman. In. Out. In_. I am like a smooth rock. _Out_. A still stream. _In_. I can do this. _Out_. It's just a new school._

As she rounded the next bend, she was relieved to have found the school. The wall had been a good warning; the school buildings themselves would have shocked her if she hadn't have seen the wall. They were in keeping with it, all harmonised grey-and-brown bricks and smooth lawns. And the entrance was even labelled, more golden letters reading "RECEPTION". Kel headed towards this, cutting across the lawns before realising that these were probably off-limits, and dodging back onto the path.

She swung open the door labelled "RECEPTION" and walked inside. There was no one at the desk, but there were various hallways and doors around. Nervously, Kel straightened her blue t-shirt and composed her face, making it still and unreadable like she'd been taught in Yaman. She spotted a bell on the counter and leaned forwards to ring it, but voices in one of the hallways stopped her.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Jon!" This voice was female, and it sounded angry. Kel stood very still. "Forbidding me from going near the second girl ever to be admitted into our sports program, really? What am I going to do? Give her a magic charm to make her succeed?"

Another voice came, this time male and calm and reasonable. "You know that's what the parents want to believe. You know how most of them feel about this, they don't approve! You just have to let the girl prove herself. She's meant to be good. If she can't prove that she is, then she shouldn't be here. She doesn't need you interfering."

With a slight shock, Kel realised that she herself was the subject of this conversation, and also that she probably didn't want to hear the rest. She reached forward and pressed the bell, which proceeded to make a loud and obnoxious ringing sound.

"I'll get it," the female voice spoke again, laced with exasperation. "You go back to your important principal-ly duties or whatever you do around here."

"Alanna-" the male voice began, this time slightly frustrated, but footsteps stomped around the corner and Kel looked up to see a short, stocky woman with bright red hair striding towards her. The woman halted abruptly at the sight of Kel, looking her up and down, and Kel had to force herself not to squirm. This had to be Alanna Cooper, the only woman to have ever gotten into the sports program at Tortall High. The famed "Lioness" of women's basketball, athletics and soccer. The pioneer for women in-

"You must be Keladry," Alanna said, her tone giving nothing away. "I'm Alanna Cooper. I teach sports here."

Kel repressed her excitement and instead nodded calmly, holding out her hand to shake Alanna's. "Nice to meet you, miss."

Alanna stepped closer to grab her hand, and with a shock, Kel noticed just how short she really was. She didn't even reach Kel's chin, but instead only made it to her shoulder. Alanna, however, didn't seem fazed by this, and Kel supposed that she was used to being dwarfed. "I'll get you your timetable."

Kel nodded, and turned away, but the male voice, whom Kel assumed was the principal, also joined then. "Hello, Keladry, I'm Mr Conte. Welcome to Tortall Selective High School." He introduced himself with a smooth flash of white teeth and twinkling blue eyes, but Kel was finding it distinctly hard to warm to him after overhearing what he had to say about her.

Alanna was obviously having similar thoughts, as she banged the top of the printer shut, muttering rude words under her breath. She handed Kel a timetable, managed a kind of grimace-smile, and stomped off back down the hall, shooting Jon a glare as she passed.

Kel glanced down at her timetable, eyeing the list of subjects at the edge to see that they'd gotten them right. "English, standard. Advanced mathematics. Biology. Personal development and health (PDH). Sports studies. Japanese extension (distance studies). Sports program," the paper read, all of which Kel confirmed in her head as correct. She glanced at Monday's schedule and found that she had maths first, followed by biology, a double Sports studies and a double Sports program, whatever those were. Alanna had also given her a map of the school and scrawled her room number- which seemed to be "B75". Just how big was this place, anyway? A key was sticky-taped onto the back of the timetable, and Kel tore it off absent-mindedly. Looking up, she found that Mr Conte was still there, his blue eyes like spots of ocean on his face.

"I'll find you someone to show you your room," he offered cheerfully, but Kel shook her head. She hadn't seen any other students around, and she would rather make her own friends rather than be forced upon someone else. "It's fine, sir, I have a map."

"In that case, I hope that you have a good first day, Keladry," he said pleasantly, and Kel smiled and thanked him and pretended she had heard nothing.

* * *

After several wrong turns, Kel managed to find what was labelled as "The Sports Wing" on the map, and headed up a flight of stairs to "rooms B42 to B80", which would hopefully include her room. The place was massive. They apparently had an "Arts Wing" along with the "Sports Wing" and "Academic Wing" and also a "Dancing, Gymnastics and Equestrian Wing", which Kel didn't entirely understand, because weren't those sports as well? Nonetheless, she strode down "Sports Wing" corridor 2, sports bag bouncing against her leg, reading the numbers from the doors. 73… 74…

She reached room 75 only to discover that someone had decided it was a good idea to cover the doorhandle in vegetable oil. "So funny," Kel muttered to herself, before digging in her bag, grabbing a tissue, and unlocking and opening the door that way. She stepped inside, skied halfway across the room in what seemed to be another patch of oil and ended up face-first down on her bed after hitting it in her slippery adventure. She got up slowly, flicked on the light and saw that her mysterious prankster had written on the wall mirror "Take yourself to the arts wing, Girls dont belong here."

"Not even an apostrophe in 'don't'," Kel commented aloud, trying to make light of the situation. She couldn't deny that all of this, seemingly just to try to scare her off, was not only annoying but worrying. But she was not going to let that get to her. It was her first day, she'd made it into the Tortall High Sports Program- "sorry, the Tortall _Selective High School_," she corrected herself under her breath- and she'd just met the famous Lioness. Today was already good, and it was going to get better.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hi guys, cheers for the reviews, they're great! And thanks for the follows and stuff as well, even though I don't remember them being called follows when I was here last. Haha, oh well. Chapter two!_**  
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**Chapter Two: "Socialising With The Boys"**

"Genlith," barked the bald, cleanly shaven man whom Kel assumed was a teacher. She'd rushed out of her room as soon as she'd heard a bell, and had desperately tried to follow the map, eventually walking in on what she assumed was some kind of roll call. The muscled, slightly intimidating man who seemed to be in charge hadn't said anything to her, he'd simply continued to mark the roll as though his life depended on it, whilst the large group of boys had stared at Kel and began whispering amongst themselves. Kel was currently trying to ignore it; she'd wedged herself into a corner at the back of the room and was attempting to look as though she was completely focused on the roll call.

"Jesslaw," the teacher said. There was no reply to this name, and the bald man rolled his eyes, seemingly used to this. "_Jesslaw_," he snapped again.

"Ooh, sorry sir!" This exclamation of surprise came from quite near Kel, she looked over to see a short, slightly chubby boy who looked to be a bit younger than her jerk up his hand in acknowledgement, his freckled face flushing. "Here."

The teacher gazed at him for a single moment with sharp brown eyes, and the freckled boy looked down quickly. "Kennan," the man finally continued with the roll, his tone dry, and Kel observed a very tall redhead flinging up a hand, almost stabbing the tall, thin, brunette boy next to him. The brunette boy shot him a threatening glare from slitted green eyes, which Kel couldn't help but notice were set over a rather long nose. Biting back a small smile of amusement, she returned her attention to the roll.

"King." A dark-haired, handsome boy stuck up one lean arm in answer.

"Masbolle." There was a slight pause before anyone answered.

"He's away on swim squad, won't be back 'til next week," the green-eyed brunette drawled cheerfully, and Kel noticed with interest that he'd left the 'sir' off the end of his sentence.

The man out the front sighed, glaring at green-eyes over his clipboard. "I know, Queenscove, I sent him off myself."

The green-eyed boy simply shrugged, apparently unconcerned at the look he'd just received, and after a short pause the roll was continued. Kel had expected to be soon, as "Mindelan" was fairly close to "Masbolle", but there were no other 'M's after Masbolle. She gulped invisibly, hoping that she was in the right place, and stole several quick looks around her. Surely this wouldn't be the dancing wing. There were no other girls in sight, which seemed like a pretty good indication that she was in the right spot. And besides, none of these boys looked particularly like dancers, or painters, or tambourine players… They_ looked_ sporty enough, and she had been fairly certain that she'd followed the map correctly.

Kel tuned back into the roll just in time to hear the teacher bark "Queenscove!", to which green-eyes raised a lazy arm and said with some satisfaction, "sir yes sir!"

The teacher stopped and narrowed his dark brown eyes again. Kel, still standing in the corner, was beginning to get the idea that this was a regular occurrence. "Insolence, Queenscove. Do you think that this is all some kind of joke? Give me ten. Now." With that, he moved on, evidently expecting to be obeyed.

Kel watched the green-eyed boy with interest. He rolled his eyes as soon as the teacher looked back down, muttered something to the seemingly clumsy redhead next to him and ran his hand through his floppy brown hair.

"Stone," the teacher snapped out, and a blonde haired boy, who Kel couldn't find any word to describe other than "pretty", answered with a cold "yes, sir". His icy blue eyes scanned the room around him, and finding Kel's eyes upon him, he shot her a distinctly savage look, mouthing a rude phrase at her. Not entirely shocked, Kel looked away, careful to keep her face neutral. Maybe she'd just found the person who'd sabotaged her room.

Several names later, and Kel was thinking that they had to be getting near the end of the roll, her nervousness growing. What if she wasn't on there? What if she was in the wrong place?

"Wolset," the teacher said with an air of finality, but when no one answered yet again, Queenscove piped up with "swim squad, sir". Kel had a feeling he had only put the "sir" on the end this time because it made an amusing alliterated sentence.

The teacher looked up as though he was finished, and Kel felt sick with anxiety. He scanned the crowd, spotted her, and actually scowled, his chiselled features showing his displeasure. "Ah, yes," he said, with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. "Boys, may I introduce our newest member, I believe it's-" he glanced down at the paper from which he'd been reading the rest of the names. "Ah, yes. Mindelan."

Kel nodded with some relief and risked looking around, pasting a small smile on her face in hope of looking friendly. Her gaze met with a sea of faces, each wearing a variety of expressions. The pretty blonde boy looked furious, he was glaring at her, and the boys around him, whom Kel assumed were his friends, were also looking displeased. The freckled boy who'd forgotten to answer his name, which she recalled was "Jesslaw", was staring at her, his mouth slightly open with shock. She almost laughed when she saw him mouthing to one of the boys across the room, "It's a girl!" Green-eyes, the insolent one, was gazing at her with some interest, as though she was a kind of unusual beetle that he'd picked up from the grass. The rest of the boys' faces ranged from bored to mildly interested to infuriated to-… No. None of them were even close to friendly. Kel hid the sudden plummeting feeling in her stomach, and wondered if she'd make any friends.

The teacher, after staring down Kel for some time, eventually glanced back down at his roll. "Now," he mused. "_Why_ are you at the bottom of the roll, Mindelan? What has happened to our alphabetical order?" The way he said it made Kel feel as though she'd gone and scrawled her name deliberately at the bottom, just to inconvenience him.

"She should be after "Masbolle"", pointed out green-eyes- no, Queenscove- with a faint smirk, his eyes glancing first at the teacher, then across at Kel. "With the Ms."

The teacher sighed loudly. "Yes, thankyou, Queenscove. Just because you transferred from the academic department does not mean you are the only one who is capable of alphabetising names."

Queenscove's smirk grew, but the teacher began talking again and Kel re-focused on him.

"I am Wyldon," he stated firmly, and Kel was left wondering whether that was a first name or a last name. "I am your trainer, your teacher, and your coach for the next two years. You will refer to me as 'sir'. You will participate fully in every class that I conduct, and every class otherwise. You will be at breakfast every morning by 7:45am. You will work. You will train. You will work and train hard. And let me remind you, girl, that I will not be making any exceptions just because you have made yourself an exception."

His brown eyes glared at her from across the room, and it was with a heavy dose of disappointment that Kel realised, not entirely to her surprise, that she was not well-liked. She forced herself to keep her head raised, making her eyes meet his. "My name is Kel," she pointed out bravely, not having overlooked the "girl" part of his speech. "And yes, sir."

Wyldon eyed her for a moment, seemingly gauging whether she was being insolent or not, and finally looked away, his gaze travelling to the other boys. "The girl is going to need someone to show her around. Any volunteers?"

For a long, heart-stopping moment, there was absolute silence, and not one of the boys even looked like they were going to raise their hands. Then the pretty blonde boy, with a faint smile, spoke. "Oh please, sir, we all know that no one wants The Girl here anyway. She won't last; she'll be gone in a day or two. I'm pretty damn sure that there's no need to give her a guide when she's not staying."

There was a collective intake of breath in the crowd, but some of the other boys were nodding in agreement and Kel gritted her teeth angrily, forcing her face to remain calm and expressionless.

"Oh, shut up, Joren," a familiar, lazy voice spoke out. Kel looked over to see Queenscove running a pale hand through his messy hair, his green gaze taunting Joren. "I mean, really? Your views are out-dated; they belong in the medieval times. We all know you're just worried cause you know she'll beat you."

Joren's mouth thinned and his pale face flushed slightly with fury. "Queenscove, I'll-"

Queenscove, however, seemed completely unperturbed as he interrupted Joren to address Wyldon. "I'm perfectly happy to show Kel around, sir," he said, and Kel actually could have hugged him with gratitude.

"I can take her to any classes Neal doesn't have with her," offered another boy, whose silky black hair and bright blue eyes reminded Kel of someone else, although she couldn't have said who.

"We all know why you two are volunteering," muttered a huge, muscled boy standing on Joren's right. "It's only cause you can't get any anywhere else and you think she'll be easy."

Kel had heard this kind of thing before, and so she didn't react. It came as a kind of warm surprise to her, though, when Neal lunged forward violently, stopped only by Kennan standing next to him. She knew it had been an insult to him as well, but it seemed kind of like a nice gesture. Maybe she'd have friends after all.

* * *

After some more disputes and rude comments, they'd been dismissed, and so Kel headed towards Neal, who appeared to be arguing with a couple of the boys near to him. As she came closer, she could hear some of the hastily whispered conversation.

"Neal, you idiot!" A pale, freckled redhead hissed. "Joren is not going to forget what you said."

"He's right you know," added a slimmer, tanned boy. "And now The Girl's going to-"

But they'd noticed Kel's approach, and so she never got to find out just what she was going to do. "Hi," she offered, forcing a calm tone. "I'm Kel. Thanks for offering to show me around." This last bit was directed at Neal, who grinned in return. Looking at him, Kel discovered that the smile actually seemed genuine- unlike some of the other boys around him, who either weren't bothering to try or who were wearing small, forced grins.

"You're welcome," said Neal, quite cheerfully. "I'm Neal. This is Roald-" he gestured to the black haired boy who'd volunteered to be her guide as well, and he smiled, revealing straight white teeth. It turned out that "Cleon" was the tall redhead who'd restrained Neal, whilst "Seaver" was the one who'd been about to say just what she was going to do, and "Merric" had called Neal an idiot. Jesslaw's name ended up being "Owen", and the dark-haired, handsome boy's name "Faleron". Kel was left trying to remember all of these names, her head swimming with information and faces.

"What do you have today?" Neal asked her finally. Kel pulled her neatly-folded timetable from her shorts pocket and checked.

"Maths, then biology," she told him. "Then double sports studies and double sports program."

"I'm in maths with you, and sports studies, and sports program," Neal bent over next to her to look at the timetable, considering. "But not bio. Roald does bio though, he can take you."

Roald nodded calmly, his blue eyes neutral. "Sure. I can pick you up from the maths room?"

"Thanks," Kel said in assent, and with that, she went to maths, Neal leading the way.

* * *

It was with some relief that Kel followed Neal to the lunch room. It was 1:30, and so far she'd survived all of her classes. Maths had been fine- Kel was good at maths, and so she didn't mind it, whilst Neal and his friends had sat there groaning and clutching their heads all lesson. They'd just started graphing with derivatives, which Kel was lucky enough to have already done back in Yaman, and so the exercises had been simple enough. It turned out that normal, non-sports classes were mixed with the other departments, and so there had been a few curious arts, equestrian, textiles and dance students in maths and biology. Roald had taken her to biology as he'd said, which had definitely been less easy than maths. She'd been given a stack of textbooks and catch-up sheets and told to have them done by Wednesday so that she could be up to date with the rest of the class. They'd had a short morning tea break, and then sports studies, which turned out to be a half-practical, half-theory class. Today had been theory, though, and it was with some relief that Kel arrived and realised that they didn't have Wyldon for sports studies, only sports program. Instead, they had been taught by an enormous, tanned man who'd grinned at her widely and introduced himself as "Raoul". Kel was beginning to think that she might like sports studies.

"They had better have good food today," muttered Neal as they stepped into a huge hall filled with rows of tables and benches. "If it's mashed potato, I will throw myself off a cliff. A really big cliff, with spiky rocks at the bottom. Then my blood will be splattered on the rocks and my organs will…"

Kel tuned out after that. She was beginning to think that Neal had a bit of a dramatic streak, along with an amusing tendency to exaggerate everything. So far, she'd managed to keep a straight face (just in case he wasn't joking), but it was beginning to be difficult.

They grabbed their lunch- which to Neal's delight wasn't mashed potatoes- and found a table. Kel found herself squished between Neal and Owen, who seemed to have gotten over his initial shock at her being a girl, and who instead chattered incessantly about anything and everything. Kel smiled and nodded and added in the occasional word. She discovered that Owen was a soccer and football player, that he lived with his father, and had two younger sisters who were in the arts department of the school. By the time this had all been discussed, the bell rang, and Kel headed off to sports program, along with all of the other sports students.

Arriving at a large, wood-floored sports hall, they discovered that Wyldon was already waiting, and all of the boys scurried off to the change-rooms to change into practical clothes. Kel hadn't realised that the class was practical, and so hadn't brought any clothes. Wyldon seemed thoroughly displeased by this, but Kel noticed that there weren't any girls change-rooms anyway, so she would have had to go back to her room no matter what. She raced away to change into loose sports shorts and a different t-shirt, and sprinted back, slightly out of breath, only to discover that most of the boys were still getting changed. Out of those already out, Kel only knew Faleron and Seaver, and so she went to stand with them. They were talking when she approached, but stopped abruptly when she reached them, leaving her with no doubt as to what- or who- they'd been discussing. Kel tried for a conversation starter.

"So how long have you guys been here?" she asked casually. Faleron and Seaver glanced at each other, and seemed almost about to answer, until a yell from across the room made both of the boys flinch backwards as though she was poisonous.

"Mindelan!" Wyldon yelled, waving a clipboard at her. "Stop socialising with the boys and jog here!"

Kel tried to smile at Faleron and Seaver as she jogged away, but both of the boys stared at the ground and refused to meet her eyes. Rolling her eyes inwardly, Kel ran over to Wyldon and stopped near to him. "Yes, sir?"

Wyldon appeared to be scanning a piece of paper in front of him. "It says here that you specialised in…" his sharp brown eyes moved across the page rapidly. "Some different kinds of Japanese fighting, dance, basketball and athletics. Is that right?"

Kel held back a grimace of horror. "Not dancing, sir. The rest is right." She'd done dancing up until she was thirteen, but had given it up as soon as she'd left the area she'd been in, and after her teacher had told her that she was "too violent, and not graceful enough". She didn't really miss it.

"Alright," Wyldon made a few notes on his clipboard, and then glanced up, seemingly surprised that she was still there. "Off you go."

Kel walked back to the wall, relieved to see that Neal was now there. He waved at her as she came over, and she smiled in response. "What'd The Stump want?" he asked curiously.

"The who?" Kel queried, confused.

"Neal," Roald groaned, running a hand through his sleek, neat black hair. Seeing Kel's puzzlement, he explained. "It's what he calls Wyldon."

"No," Neal objected. "It's what _everyone _calls Wyldon, now. It's because he's so stiff and rigid and stern and… just like a Stump." He mimicked Wyldon as he described, narrowing his eyes, straightening his body and pursing his lips in such a way that he actually kind of resembled him.

"Did you ever think about doing drama?" asked Kel, genuinely impressed by this display. The rest of the boys around her burst out laughing, and Neal shot her a haughty look.

"Me, wasted on crowds of giggling small children and doting parents? I don't think so," he said indignantly. "Although, my dear Keladry, you may just have a point. Drama often results in lots of swooning young women…"

Merric groaned loudly. "Now you've started him off," he said to Kel. "He'll go on for hours like this now, imagining all the women swooning over him…"

Neal was apparently still detailing this vision. "And at the front of the crowd," he said, delivering this line with a large, sweeping gesture, "shall be…"

But Kel never got to find out just who would be at the front of Neal's group of "swooning young women", because at that moment Wyldon began splitting them up into teams to play basketball.

* * *

Stepping into the shower after dinner that night, Kel realised with some annoyance that she still had to clean up all the vegetable oil and writing in her room. She was fairly sure that she knew exactly who had done it. Joren, a boy called Vinson and another called Garvey had spent the entire sports program basketball game pushing her, shoving her, ignoring her even when she was open and generally trying to make her look bad in whatever way that they could- even though they had been on her team. What frustrated her more though was how Wyldon, as the referee, had done absolutely nothing. It was like he didn't even notice how they were breaking the rules just to bully her. Everyone else had, though. Neal, on Kel's team as well, had decided to try to retaliate by tripping Garvey up when he was going for a lay-up. Garvey had ended up flat on the floor on his face, the ball bouncing away in front of him, but Wyldon had blown the whistle loudly and declared a penalty shot even though Neal was on his team. It had been unfair, to say the least, and the whole double lesson there had been comments thrown around about how Kel wasn't as strong, or as fast, or as skilled, or as anything in fact as the other boys. It had been all she could do not to punch someone or something, and she'd restrained herself, but she was also thoroughly determined to prove them all wrong. Because they weren't right, and they weren't treating her fairly.

She got out of the shower, wrapping herself in a towel, and found some pyjama shorts and a singlet to pull on. Just as she'd gotten dressed, there was a knock on the door, and, puzzled, she went and opened it. Standing on the other side was Neal, wearing a woebegone expression and waving a book at her.

"Neal?" Kel said, confused. He shoved his way past her into the room, seemingly not noticing her attire, and flopped onto her bed, still waving his book. Faintly embarrassed, she crossed her arms, attempting to hide her blue and purple monkey patterned pajama singlet.

"Kel," Neal wailed miserably, flailing the book, "it's question fourteen. It just won't work!"

By now slightly amused, Kel went over, carefully leaving the door open as she had discovered was a rule for her if she had anyone in her room- which, considering, didn't really make sense as the boys didn't have that rule. What if…? But she didn't go there, and instead perched next to Neal on the bed, watching as he raked his hand through his already dishevelled brown hair, which she almost reached out and flattened with her hand. She stopped herself though, wondering with some horror what on earth had come over her. Yeah, okay, so she'd noticed that Neal was a fairly good looking, funny guy from the start, but really? She hadn't had the urge to hold his hand on the way to maths or anything; she was being ridiculous. It was probably just because he was so _nice_. She'd known him for a day- not even a day- and...

She forced herself out of those thoughts, and instead focused on the book in his hand. "Is it maths?" she asked, having already guessed.

"Yes," Neal moaned. "It's _horrible_." He was looking around at her room with avid curiosity, and his eyes fell on something and fixed. "Wait, what's that?"

Kel, who had been reading the problem, glanced over at him in some surprise. His tone was suddenly serious, not dramatic at all, and it sounded displeased. "What's what?"

"That writing, on your mirror," Neal sat up and gestured. Kel turned to look, and realised that he meant the message telling her to go back to the arts wing.

"Oh, just a… welcome message?" she said lamely. "It was here when I got here. I meant to clean it off, but I guess I just forgot."

Neal jumped off the bed and strode over to the mirror purposefully. He glared at it for several moments before snatching a tissue in one violent motion from Kel's tissue box and scrubbing at the mirror firmly. The letters flaked off one by one as Kel watched, and she was left feeling very grateful and slightly surprised by Neal's anger.

"That's Joren's writing," Neal muttered when he was done. "I would bet my blood on it."

"Maybe don't bet your blood," Kel tried for a light tone. "It doesn't matter. I cleaned up the vegetable oil already."

"Vegetable oil?" demanded Neal, and Kel realised suddenly that she shouldn't have mentioned it. "Joren is such a medieval, conservative twit!"


	3. Chapter 3

_Two chapters in one day. I'm fairly sure that means that you review both chapters, right? ;) Haha! Nah, pumped to be writing more. So here's chapter three, and prepare for chapter four! Because I can guarantee that it will contain an appearance of the ever amazing Dom! Prepare yourselves!_

**Chapter Three: "It's Best Not To Interfere"**

By lunchtime the next day, Kel was aching all over and longing for a hot shower. The day had started off badly. She'd gotten up an hour early to go for a run and to familiarise herself a bit more with the school, only to step out the door and slip over in a puddle of tomato sauce placed just so that she wouldn't see it in the morning light. She'd had to change, clean up the tomato sauce and then continue on. It wasn't like that had wasted much time- she'd still gotten in a 45 minute jog and explore- but it had not been a pleasant way to start her second day. She'd gotten to breakfast on time, and met Neal and the other boys at what seemed to be their usual table. To her amusement, Neal had told the rest of them that Kel was "awesome at maths" and so they'd begged her to come to the library after dinner to help them with their homework. She didn't mind that- it was kind of nice, to be honest, and it felt almost like she was starting to fit in.

Until the class jog in sports program, in the first two periods. Wyldon seemed to have decided that they were all too unfit, and so he'd had them go on a five kilometre jog together. Kel wouldn't have minded that, although if she'd realised she probably wouldn't have gone in the morning, but Joren, Garvey and Vinson had seemed determined to trip her up or humiliate her in some way. They'd harassed her almost the whole jog, despite Neal, Cleon and Roald's efforts to get rid of them, and Wyldon still hadn't seemed to notice anything amiss. After that they'd done stretches, and some sprinting practice, so Kel's legs were aching.

Double sports studies had been next, and that had been practical as well. Raoul had taken them all to the gym, where they worked on arm strength, thigh and leg strength and upper body strength. By the end of that, Kel, who was not particularly weak or unfit, was aching all over.

And now it was lunch. Along with the other boys, Kel lifted her sandwich up to her mouth tiredly, chewing without enthusiasm. No one seemed to have enough energy left to talk, except for Neal, who was jabbering excitedly about some poetry class he was taking this year.

Neal. Kel shook her head inwardly at her own foolishness. She knew that she found him attractive in a maddening, amusing way, yet she also knew just how stupid that really was. She knew perfectly well that he would not find her appealing in any way, and also that she couldn't waste her time or feelings pining over any guy- not here and not now. Plus, she'd found out last night, amidst maths questions, just who Neal wanted to be at the head of his pack of swooning girls. Uline Hannalof, Kel had to admit, was absolutely gorgeous and seemed really nice, just to top it off. Kel had seen her at breakfast this morning, after Neal had pointed her out, and then had been introduced to her at morning tea. She was an arts student, with a slim figure, cascading waves of glistening black hair and creamy skin. Neal managed to grin goofily every single time he spotted her.

The bell rang just as Kel finished her juice, and Neal began smacking his head on the table in despair. "No!" he moaned. "Not physics!"

Kel, screwing the cap back on her drink bottle, gazed over at him with hidden amusement. "Why did you pick it if you don't like it?" She had Japanese extension by distance, and was looking forward to it.

"Heartless girl," Neal murmured, lifting his head to reveal a wounded green gaze. "No sympathy. I didn't know that I wouldn't like it when I picked it!"

Kel rolled her eyes, grabbed the thick envelope from the distance education school that she'd had the foresight to bring down to lunch, and headed off to the library.

* * *

It was unfortunate, Kel reflected, a few pages into her Japanese novel, that the history teacher had decided that it would be a great idea to bring his class into the library for an independent research program. Kel didn't mind Faleron and Seaver, who had actually come and sat with her once they'd found some books, but Joren and Vinson were a different story. Even now, after half an hour of being in the library, they were still finding it amusing to shoot small, spit-soaked paper balls at her. Kel wasn't usually the kind of person who retaliated, but she was thoroughly annoyed by now.

Until they stopped. The paper balls stopped coming halfway through a paragraph, and Kel was both relieved and confused. She sneaked a glance behind her only to discover that Joren and Vinson were no longer sitting a couple of tables behind her; instead she found that they were standing, backs facing her, several rows of bookshelves down. She could only see the backs of their heads, a blonde blob and a brown mess, but Joren seemed to be gesturing at someone else, pointing first at himself, then down at the ground. Vinson turned slightly, and Kel could see that he was flexing his muscles and laughing and everything Joren was saying. Suspicion gripped her, and she put down her book and stood.

Faleron and Seaver looked up at her, Seaver's brown eyes flicking to the scene in the background and then back to Kel's face. "Kel, don't," he said quickly. "It's best not to interfere."

"Interfere with what?" Kel asked him innocently, and she turned away to head towards Joren and Vinson. Behind her, she heard a loud sigh, but she ignored it and continued down the edge of the tall bookshelves confidently, stopping only when she reached the end of the row that Vinson and Joren were standing in.

Pretending to look at a book on the shelf behind them, Kel sneaked a look at the scene before her. She was right. Joren stood over a skinny boy with messy blonde hair and bright, pleading blue eyes.

"Oh come on," Joren was sneering down at the boy, "just pick up the pen, why don't you?"

The boy went to grab a black pen at Joren's feet, but Vinson kicked out, connecting with both the pen and the boy, sending the pen flying metres away and knocking the boy onto his chest on the ground. Vinson put one meaty foot on the small boy's back, and Kel stepped forward.

"What are you doing?" She asked them quietly, her voice calm yet deadly. The boy on the ground shot her a panicked look, whilst Vinson and Joren exchanged smirks.

"None of your business, Lump," Joren said smoothly, nudging the blonde boy with his foot . It was with an angry clench of her teeth that Kel noticed how young he was; he looked to be about twelve. Joren had no right.

"How about you let him get up then?" she suggested innocently. "He looks a little uncomfortable down there on the floor."

"How about…" Joren mused. "How about, you go away and mind your own business?"

Vinson's foot still hadn't moved from the boy's back, and Kel was suddenly sick of the whole thing. She stepped forwards so that she was mere inches from Vinson. "Let him up."

Vinson simply grinned, flexing his arm muscles, and he stepped down harder on the boy, causing him to yelp in pain. Kel made her move, reaching out to grab Vinson's arm, stepping forward neatly and pushing so that he was unbalanced, and then delivering a swinging kick to the leg that he was standing on, resulting in Vinson toppling backwards and crushing Joren down to the ground. It had happened so quickly that neither boy had managed to react. Kel watched all this with a calm, aloof expression, and then held a hand out to the boy on the ground.

"You shouldn't have done that," the boy on the ground whispered, his large blue eyes petrified. "They'll only come back."

"I don't think so," Kel said in a normal, conversational tone. "Not if they don't want to humiliate themselves further. I'm Kel, by the way. What's your name?"

Joren and Vinson had managed to untangle themselves and were now standing. Joren cracked his knuckles against one hand and stepped forward. "You bi-"

"Shut up, Joren," a male voice came from behind Kel, and she turned her head, surprised, to see Faleron and Seaver standing behind her. Faleron offered her an apologetic grin before addressing Joren again. "You don't want to embarrass yourself like that again, do you?"

Scowling and outnumbered, Joren and Vinson retreated, Vinson flicking Kel his middle finger on the way out. "Later, Lump," Joren muttered rudely. "Just you wait."

Unfazed, Kel watched them walk away, and it was only then that the blonde boy on the ground got up.

* * *

Since then, she'd learnt that his name was Tobeis Boon, but that he mostly went by Tobe, and that he was a scholarship equestrian student. He'd been in the library borrowing some books about different types of horses, and try as she might, Kel couldn't seem to break him of the habit of referring to her as "miss".

"I'm not a teacher," she pointed out the first time he did it. "My name's Kel."

"Yes, miss," Tobe had said deferentially, and she had been left puzzled yet amused.

Tobe had since joined their post-dinner study group, despite being only fourteen, and Kel was happy to admit that she liked helping him with his maths. On Tuesday night, the night after she'd rescued him from Vinson and Joren, he'd asked her to teach him how to pack a good punch, and so she'd quite happily been teaching him that as well. Neal seemed amused by the whole thing, and was now taunting Kel by referring to her as "the protector". The nickname, luckily, didn't seem to have caught on, but the way Neal said it, with teasing green eyes and a wicked grin, made Kel's heart thump. She wished, every day, that she wasn't so susceptible to his charms- but she was, and she just couldn't seem to help it.

* * *

The rest of the week passed in a similar fashion: one of aching muscles, thumping hearts, long hot showers, puddles of various, sticky fluids and attempted humiliation by Joren and his friends. Kel knew that they still hadn't quite gotten over the one-sided fight in the library, and she made sure to anticipate and thwart their attempts to get her alone and outnumbered. She knew that she could probably beat them- she'd been trained in self-defence and they hadn't- but it wasn't really worth it. And anyway, she hadn't seen them bullying anyone else- yet.

If it hadn't been for Neal, Roald, Owen, and the rest of the boys, Kel would have been feeling slightly put-off, but as it was, she was almost beginning to feel as though she fitted in with them. Every night since Tuesday, they'd had a study session in the library after dinner, joined by Tobe. Kel had helped them all with maths, and Roald, Merric, Owen and Cleon had helped with all of the biology catch-up she'd had to do. Merric was the only one of them in her English class, but he, despite still seeming a bit apprehensive of Kel, had helped her check out the novels that she needed and had even been helping her with an essay. They all seemed thoroughly amused by Kel's teaching Tobe to punch, and every night one of them would volunteer to be the test subject- for Tobe, not Kel. They learnt better than to offer to be Kel's punching bag after Neal volunteered the first night and ended up thoroughly winded. Kel had apologised profusely, having forgotten that she was not punching one of the stone-stomached Yamani training masters, but Neal had just lain on the floor gasping for breath, in between hysterical laughs.

And now it was home for the weekend. Kel had been surprised to learn that not everyone went home from the weekend- in fact, none of her friends were going, as she learnt. But they waved her off quite cheerfully, and she walked out of the school feeling quite pleased at the week she'd had. She turned on her phone- which was banned during school hours, and whish she'd been too tired and too busy to use otherwise- only to discover that she had an inbox full of text messages. One was from her mother, one from her father, and several from her brothers and sisters asking how her school was going. She'd already asked her mother to meet her inside rather than all the way up the driveway, and so when she reached the school entrance, her mother's red four-wheel drive was already waiting there.

"Hi, Mama," Kel said cheerfully, swinging open the back door to throw her bag in. Her mother smiled back at her and hugged her when she got in the passenger seat, smelling of flowers and clean washing and home.

"How was your week?" Ilane asked.

Kel thought about it for a moment. "It was interesting," she said at last. "Interesting, but good."


End file.
